You are here

The Life of Thomas Bailey Aldrich

This biography of Aldrich traces his life and career from his early days in New York to his established position as a New England writer and editor. Greenslet discusses Aldrich's relationship to the periodicals and literary circles of New York, most notably the Bohemians at Pfaff's and the Saturday Press and later at the Atlantic Monthly and in New England. Greenslet also includes several descriptions of Aldrich's friends and reprints several letters from Aldrich to his friends which discuss his personal life, career, and literary opinions.

People Mentioned in this Work

In 1854 Aldrich wrote: "I could boast of a long line of ancestors, but won't. They are of no possible benefit to me, save it is pleasant to think that none of them were hanged for criminals or shot for traitors" (6).

Greenslet describes Aldrich in the summer of 1858, at age twenty-two "in the full tide of his early success" (37). He was also "as intimate as he ever became with the wits and poets of that lively 'Literary Bohemia' of New York half a century ago" (37).

Greenslet discusses Aldrich's reserved nature, even in the midst of the Bohemians (41).

Greenslet states that when Aldrich worked for the Saturday Press, "the youthful associate editor seems to have served the paper faithfully, writing his due quota of its 'Hugoish paragraphs of one or more syllables,' sharing in the editorial councils, and even joining in the defence when, as was not uncommon, persons whose names had been mentioned in the 'Press' endeavored to carry the office by assualt, vi et armis. It was in this office, too, and in his intermittent frequentation of Pfaff's that his wit was tempered. It was give and take there by the brightest minds of New York. The retold story and the repeated bon mot were rigorously barred, but the new good thing was sure of applause. In this fierce light Aldrich at first played a shrinking part, but soon he became known as the wielder of a rapier that no man cared to trifle with. Yet, as heretofore, his secure fineness of quality kept him from taking too deep a color of cynicism from his circle, or adopting its pose" (45).

Greenslet mentions that during this time period, Aldrich also spoke/read at colleges and traveled (45).

During the summer of 1859, Aldrich informed Stoddard that he was working on a short novel called "Glass Houses," which he was unsure as to when he would complete -- the novel would remain unfinished. That year, he published "The Ballad of Baby Bell, and Other Poems" (46).

Greenslet claims that Aldrich did not take the failure of the "Saturday Press" in early 1860 terribly hard, as his relationship to the paper was an "elastic" one. Aldrich was also informed that he would soon be published in the "Atlantic" shortly after the failure of the "Saturday Press" (48). Aldrich would edit the "Atlantic" twenty-five years later. For the next five years, Aldrich remained in New York and established himself as a writer. He maintained some of his Bohemian friendships, but "no longer the laureate of Bohemia" and "constantly expanding the radius of his poetic reputation" and forging friendships with New England writers (49).

He is mentioned as part of "a group of journalists and magazine-writers of great repute in their own day, but as remote as Prester John to ours" with whom Aldrich was familiar during his days in the "Literary Bohemia" in New York (38).

Greenlset describes him as one who has gone the way of the "journalists of yester-year." Greenslet notes that "Handsome George Arnold's sincere and melodious verse was collected after his early death by Mr. Winter, in whose introduction we may read the story of his kindly, ineffective life" (39).

A member of Aldrich's "nearer circle of contemporaries" during his experience in the "Literary Bohemia" in New York (38).

Greenslet claims that "the careers of Bayard Taylor and Edwin Booth are known to all men" (38).

Greenslet mentions that Aldrich's friendship with Booth, "who was at the height of his success at the Winter Garden," deepened during 1864. Greenslet claims that in 1865 "the only cloud came through his love and friendship for Edwin Booth, who, after the assasination of Lincoln by his brother John, feeling that the name Booth must be forever the synonym of infamy, shut himself moodily within his house. There for weeks and months he lived, the melancholy target for all the cruel notes and letters that came daily to his door. The only mitigations of his mood came through the friendly ministrations of Launt Thompson and Aldrich, who shared his solitude both day and night" (72-3).

Alrich mentions in an Oct. 9, 1866 letter from Boston to Taylor that "Booth has been with us this six weeks, acting wonderfully. We shall miss him sadly. He is a great actor. We love the boy. I like to mix his gloom with my sunshine..." (83).

During a cruise in 1885 in which Aldrich and Booth were members of the traveling party, Booth wrote to his daughter that "Aldrich is kept in a white heat of fun by [Laurence] Hutton" (157).

Greenslet cites an incident with Booth that shows that "the most telling feature of Aldrich's humor was its marvellous readiness": Aldrich had passed Booth's Chestnut Street house and notice a light still burning in the study; he knocked on the window with no response, so he knocked again. "...suddenly the door sprang open and out rushed the tragedian, hair rumpled and eyes wild, a navy revolver, at full cock in his hand. 'Hello Ned,' said Alrich, 'going hunting? I'll lend you Trip' [Aldrich's setter] (159).

Greenslet reprints a letter from Alrich to G.E. Woodberry that remarks upon Booth's illness by asking, "Is poor Edwin to be taken to the seaside? These are sad days for the dear boy and those who love him" (174).

Greenslet reprints a June 12, 1893, letter from Aldrich to Winter ("Will") from Ponkapog, Mass., that remarks upon Booth's death and funeral. Aldrich remarks that he quoted Hamlet ("Goodnight sweet prince") to himself as Booth was laid to rest. Aldrich tells Winter that at the funeral, "Then I thought of the years and years that had been made rich with his presence, and of the years that were to come, -- for us, not many, surely, -- and if there had not been a crowd of people, I would have buried my face in the greensward and wept, as men may not do and women may. And thus we left him" (174). Aldrich closes the letter to Winter by saying, "Some day, when I come to New York, we must get together in a corner at the Players, and talk about him -- his sorrows and his genius and his gentle soul" (175). (This letter is reprinted from Winter's The Life and Art of Edwin Booth.)

He is mentioned as part of "a group of journalists and magazine-writers of great repute in their own day, but as remote as Prester John to ours" with whom Aldrich was familiar during his days in the "Literary Bohemia" in New York (38).

Greenlset describes him as one who has gone the way of the "journalists of yester-year" and calls him "perhaps the intensest personality of the group, the 'King of Bohemia'" (39). Greenslet describes him as "a clever, morose little man, a hater of the brownstone respectability of his day. He died in middle life after a brilliant but far from prosperous career in variegated journalism" (39).

Greenslet quotes Clapp's statement at the first failure of the "Saturday Press" in early 1860, "This paper is discontinued for lack of funds, which is, by a coincidence, precisely the reason for which it was started" (48).

She is mentioned as part of "a group of journalists and magazine-writers of great repute in their own day, but as remote as Prester John to ours" with whom Aldrich was familiar during his days in the "Literary Bohemia" in New York (38).

Greenlset describes her as one who has gone the way of the "journalists of yester-year." Clare is described as "the beautiful and talented girl who was known as the 'Queen of Bohemian,' [who] after a prismatic flight in literary journalism, married an actor and soon after died tragically of hydrophobia contracted from the bite of a pet dog. Her vivid temperament may be studied by the curious in her novel 'Only a Woman's Heart'" (39).

Aldrich discusses in a Oct. 31, 1893 letter from Ponkapog to Laurence Hutton how Emerson and Whittier were the only members of their group not thinking solely of themselves: "They were too simple to pose, or to be intentionally brilliant. Emerson shed his silver like the moon, without knowing it. However, we can't all be great and modest at the same moment!" (176).

Aldrich mentions in a letter to Stedman how much he enjoys Emerson's "Bacchus" (197).

Halleck is mentioned as one of the older men Aldrich knew in New York. Greenslet states that it seems Aldrich knew him well during his experiences with "Literary Bohemia" in New York (38). Aldrich later writes to Howells that he would like to write about the New York he knew when he was seventeen or eighteen and Hallack was "still prowling the streets, upon which still rested the shadow of Poe" (192).

In a letter Nov. 15,1900, letter from Mt. Vernon St. to Stedman that discusses Stedman's recent critical work about poetry called the "Prelude," Aldrich says: "To my thinking that right-hand lower corner of your frontispiece would have been more fitly occupied by Fitz-Green Hallack, whose 'Burns,' 'Marco Bozzaris,' and 'Red Jacket' are poems which promise to live as long as any three pieces in the Anthology" (215).

Is mentioned as reaching Washington ahead of Aldrich when Aldrich was separated from their traveling party in the woods in Virginia. The index also mentions that House was the war correspondent for the Tribune (page 56 cannot be viewed on Google books).

He is mentioned as part of "a group of journalists and magazine-writers of great repute in their own day, but as remote as Prester John to ours" with whom Aldrich was familiar during his days in the "Literary Bohemia" in New York (38).

Greenlset describes him as one who has gone the way of the "journalists of yester-year." Greenslet mentions Ludlow's success with his "wierd" "Hasheesh Eater," "which he was never afterwards able to equal." Greenslet mentions that Ludlow died in 1870 (39).

He is mentioned as part of "a group of journalists and magazine-writers of great repute in their own day, but as remote as Prester John to ours" with whom Aldrich was familiar during his days in the "Literary Bohemia" in New York (37).

Greenslet states that "Of the group that failed to come through, perhaps the most engaging personality, and the one dearest to Aldrich, was Fitz James O'Brien" (38).

Greenslet states, "Born in Ireland in 1826, O'Brien had, as a young man, run through a bequest of L8000, in two years, and come to New York to make a living with his pen. At first he was connected with a forgotten periodical called the 'Lantern.'" Aldrich first met O'Brien when he was helping to end the run of the "Lantern" (38).

O'Brien achieved success with his story "The Diamond Lens," "written during a visit at 105 Clinton Place, and printed in the first volume of the "Atlantic Monthly." Greenslet claims O'Brien "achieved a tale of mystery and marvel that still ranks among the finest American short stories" (40).

O'Brien enlisted in the Union army and was "mortally wounded in an unimportant cavalry skirmish in February, 1862" (40).

Greenslet claims there are "numerous memorabilia" of the "warm, peppery friendship between Aldrich and O'Brien." Greenslet cites and anecdote that Aldrich used to tell about how O'Brien borrowed $40 dollars from him to buy a suit of clothes and then used it to buy a dinner to which Aldrich was not invited. At one point, due to some misunderstanding, O'Brien challenged Aldrich to a duel, which Aldrich managed to resolve by claiming that it was in violation of the "punctillo of the duello" to challenge someone to a duel when one owed the other money (40).

Greenlset also cites an anecdote that Aldrich told that when Aldrich was staying at 105 Clinton Place, "in the absence of the Frost family," O'Brien suggested they live for a week in the "Venitian manner," in which they would "sleep all day and live all night." The two attempted this lifestyle for a while, "exploring the streets all night and going to bed at seven A.M., but it seems soon to have palled on them" (40-1).

Aldrich missed a message from telling him he had been appointed to General Lander's staff. The appointment went to O'Brien. Henry Clapp is quoted as remarking on the event: "Aldrich was shot in O'Brien's shoulder" (54).

Wrote to Aldrich in 1866 to ask him to edit "Every SAturday" (76). Greenslet discusses how Osgood's business partner, Mr. Fields, retired from their partnership in 1871, leaving Osgood solely in charge of the business. Osgood changed "Every Saturday" to a large illustrated weekly in order to compete with "Harper's Weekly" (100). Greenslet describes Osgood as a "brilliant publisher" but feels "his reach rather exceeded his grasp" and this change was "one of his first enterprises after the dissolution of the partnership was doomed to ultimate disaster" (100).

Greenslet discusses Aldrich's reaction upon the end of "Every Saturday" and troubles in his business relationship with Osgood (106-7). Greenslet also reprints a letter in which Aldrich and Howells appear to be discussing Osgood's business misfortunes (191-2).

Aldrich mentions in a letter to Howells that he would like to write a book about the New York he knew when he was seventeen or eighteen and the writers of the time were "still prowling the streets, upon which still rested the shadow of Poe" (192).

Aldrich mentions him in a letter to Stedman in which they are talking about highly ranked American poets and Aldrich's low opinion of Lanier. Aldrich says: "I don't believe there are five critics who would rank him [Lanier] with Poe, Bryant, Emerson, Whittier, and Lowell. (I mention Poe, though I've an idea that if Poe had been an exemplary, conventional, tax-oppressed citizen, like Longfellow, his few poems, as striking as they are, would not have made so great a stir.)" (215).

The publication of the "Saturday Press" and Alrich's position as associate editor with O'Brien and Winter in October, 1858, was "the most momentous result of Aldrich's association with the Bohemians" (42). At first, Aldrich worked at both the "Saturday Press" and the "Home Journal," but by 1859, Aldrich was working only for the "Saturday Press" and on his own writing (42).

Greenslet claims "The vivacity and epigrammatic valor of the 'Saturday Press' gave it a succes d'estime, at least, from its first inception" (43). Greenslet quotes Aldrich's Dec. 17, 1858 letter to F.H. Underwood, assistant editor of the "Atlantic": "The 'Saturday Press' is on its feet. It is growing. It will be a paper" (43).

Greenslet states that the "Saturday Press'" first run came to an end early in 1860. He claims that Aldrich "took the failure with a light heart. His relation to the paper had never been more than an elastic one" (48).

A member of Aldrich's "nearer circle of contemporaries" during his experience in the "Literary Bohemia" in New York (38).

Greenslet notes, "The three young men of the group that with Aldrich surivived the century, Stedman, Stoddard, and Mr. Winter, writers all of poetry and prose, have become familiar names. It is perhaps something more than a coincidence that all four were New England Boys" (38-9).

A member of Aldrich's "nearer circle of contemporaries" during his experience in the "Literary Bohemia" in New York (38).

Aldrich states to Taylor in a letter, "I have turned from a 'literary Bohemian' (as Mrs. Stoddard calls me) to that mythical and underrated individual called a 'sub'" (33).

Greenslet also prints a letter to both "Dick and Lizzy" from August 1861, in which he talks about Lizzy's novel and promises to visit them soon. Aldrich also discusses his appointment in the navy in this letter (55).

A member of Aldrich's "nearer circle of contemporaries" during his experience in the "Literary Bohemia" in New York (38).

Greenslet notes, "The three young men of the group that with Aldrich surivived the century, Stedman, Stoddard, and Mr. Winter, writers all of poetry and prose, have become familiar names. It is perhaps something more than a coincidence that all four were New England Boys" (38-9).

Greenslet cites a letter that Aldrich wrote Stoddard from Portsmouth, July, 1859 (45-6). Aldrich also informed Stoddard that summer that he was working on a short novel called "Glass Houses" and was unsure as to when it would be completed (46).

Aldrich mentions a poem of his being passed along from Howells with one of Stedman's in a letter to Stedman dated Nov. 16, 1876 from Ponkapog, Mass. (128). Aldrich describes this "long poem" as "a lovely and pathetic story written with great simplicty and effect. It is as fine in its own way as any narrative of its length in Morris's 'Earthly Paradise.' But perhaps you know the poem. It is entitled 'Wratislaw.' I read it with a white mind and I don't think I've made a mistake about it. At any rate, I have written to Howells advising him not to let the length of the poem prevent him from putting it into the 'Atlantic.' All this is between you and me..." (128).

Greenslet reprints Aldrich's correspondence with "Dick" during August, 1860 on pp. 50-51; Alrich says he has a lot to tell him and "Lizzy" (50-1).

Greenslet also prints a letter to both "Dick and Lizzy" from August 1861, in which he talks about Lizzy's novel and promises to visit them soon. Aldrich also discusses his appointment in the navy in this letter (55).

Bayard was a member of Aldrich's "nearer circle of contemporaries" during his experience in the "Literary Bohemia" in New York (38).

Greenslet claims that "the careers of Bayard Taylor and Edwin Booth are known to all men" (38).

Greenslet reprinted the sonnet Taylor wrote for Aldrich and his wife for their wedding (77).

Taylor's departure abroad is mentioned in a letter from Aldrich to Stedman (89). Aldrich mentions in a letter to Howells dated Dec. 13,1876, that he received a letter from Taylor that was "so full of affection and unaffectedness that I am ashamed to love him with only all my heart (129).

Greenslet discusses Taylor's death in December, 1878. Greenslet claims this death brought "a keen sorrow" to Aldrich; Taylor had "gone abroad with his well-merited ministerial honors, never to return." Greenslet quotes a letter Aldrich wrote to a friend that discusses Taylor's death, "...My heart is heavy just now with the death of Bayard Taylor, my dear friend, without a cloud, for twenty-five years. It is like losing an arm. It is worse than that -- it is losing a loyal heart. He was a man without guile" (136). Greenselt reprints Aldrich's elegy for Taylor on pp. 136-137.

Thompson was a sculptor. He is mentioned as a member of Aldrich's "nearer circle of contemporaries" during his experience in the "Literary Bohemia" in New York (38).

Greenslet notes, "Launt Thompson's admirable busts of Booth and Bryant and heroic statues of Generals Scott and Burnside have given him the sculptor's immortality so strangley blended of tangible and shadowy elements" (38).

A collected edition of Aldrich's poetry to be published by Ticknor & Fields was "embellished with an exquisite steel engraving of the poet after the medallion by his friend Launt Thompson" (63).

Greenslet claims that in 1865 "the only cloud came through his love and friendship for Edwin Booth, who, after the assassination of Lincoln by his brother John, feeling that the name Booth must be forever the synonym of infamy, shut himself moodily within his house. There for weeks and months he lived, the melancholy target for all the cruel notes and letters that came daily to his door. The only mitigations of his mood came through the friendly ministrations of Launt Thompson and Aldrich, who shared his solitude both day and night" (72-3).

Clemens was a "new friend" of Aldrich's in 1870, when the Aldrich's were living in Boston. According to Greenslet, the two shared a "lifelong intimacy" (94). Greenslet reprints some of Aldrich's correspondence with Clemens (97-98).

Greenslet mentions that in December, 1874, when Aldrich requested a photograph of Mark Twain, he was deluged with daily photographs from the author. This reached a head when Aldrich protested after two weeks of photographs and was sent twenty separate photos on New Year's Day, 1875. Greenslet reprints the correspondence that discussed this (112-117).

In a letter to Aldrich, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) recollects Aldrich being toasted by Ward at Barnum's Restaurant in Virginia, Nevada at 3:20 A.M. Ward's toast: "Let every man 'at loves his fellow man and 'preciates a poet 'at loves his fellow-man, stan' up!...stan' up and drink health and long life to Thomas Bailey Aldrich!...and drink it stanning (98). Aldrich parenthetically remarks, "On all hands fervent, enthusiastic, and sincerly honest attempts to comply." Ward continued, "Well -- consider it stanning, and drink it just as ye are! (98-99). Greenslet reprints Aldrich's reply, in which he apologizes for having "wronged" Clemens in a manner that prompted him to re-tell the story of Ward's toast (99).

Whitman is mentioned as one of the older men Aldrich knew in New York. Greenslet indicates that the young Aldrich met Whitman several times during his experiences in "Literary Bohemia" in New York, but that the records indicate that the meetings were "not of the most sympathetic nature" (38).

Aldrich wrote a letter (Nov. 20, 1880, from Ponkapog, Mass.) to Stedman discussing a "paper" Stedman wrote on Walt Whitman. Aldrich's response to Whitman's work was as follows: "You seemed to think that I was going to take exception to your paper on Walt Whitman. It was all admirably said, and my own opinion did not run away from yours at any important point. I place less value than you do on the indorsement of Swinburne, Rossetti and Co., inasmuch as they have have also indorsed the very poor paper of ---. If Whitman had been able (he was not able, for he tried it and failed) to put his thought into artistic verse, he would have attracted little or no attention, perhaps. Where he is fine, he is fine in precisely the way of conventional poets. The greater bulk of his writing is neither prose nor verse, and certainly it is not an improvement on either. A glorious line now and then, and a striking bit of color here and there, do not constitute a poet -- especially a poet for the People. There never was a poet so calculated to please a very few. As you say, he will probably be hereafter exhumed and anatomized by learned surgeons -- who prefer a subject with thin shoulderblades or some abnormal organ to a well-regulated corpse. But he will never be regarded in the same light as Villon. Villon spoke in the tone and language of his own period: what is quaint or fantastic to us was natural to him. He was a master of versification. Whitman's manner is a hollow affectation, and represents neither the man nor the time. As the voice of the 19th century, he will have little significance in the 21st. That he will outlast the majority of his contemporaries, I haven't the faintest doubt -- but it will be in a glass case or a quart of spirits in an anatomical museum" (138-9).

Stedman responded to Aldrich: "I do not see but we perfectly agree on Whitman. My estimate of him was based, not, as you seem to half suspect, on the recollection of his early barbaric yawps, but on a careful study of his complete works. Awhile ago I invested ten dollars in two solid volumes which I should be glad to let any enthusiastic Whitmaniac have at a very handsome reduction. I admire his color and epithets and lyrical outbreaks when I can forget the affectation that underlies it all. There was always something large and sunny in Wordsworth's egotism. There is something unutterably despicable in a man writing newspaper puffs of himself. I don't believe a charlatan can be a great poet. I couldn't believe it if I were convinced of it!" (140).

Greenslet mentions that Willis was co-owner of the "Evening Mirror" with General Morris during Aldrich's early poetic career, when he experienced early success with "Babie Bell" (28). The "mainstay of their fortunes," however, according to Greenslet, was the "Home Journal," which Willis edited" (30).

Willis' sister was the writer known as "Fanny Fern"; who caused dissention between Willis and his sub-editor Parton. Willis did not want to publish his sister's newest novel in serial form; Parton disagreed and became engaged to her. Parton lost his editorial post on the "Home Journal," which cleared the way for Aldrich to take his post. Greenslet says that at this time Willis was beginning to feel the symptoms of the illness that would cause his death and spent much time away from the office(30-1).

Willis gave Aldrich advice on publishing in the fall of 1857: "It is no harm to keep publishing, that I know of. Of course, you give handles to your critics now, which you would not with years. But you are young and can stand it. And, after all, there is something in 'damnable iteration.' I should be sorry for you if you had not faults, and the more critics can find to blame, the more they will praise -- I found that out, long ago" (36).

Aldrich later writes to Howells that he would like to write about the New York he knew when he was seventeen or eighteen and Willis was "still prowling the streets, upon which still rested the shadow of Poe" (192).

The author describes Winter as a member of Aldrich's "nearer circle of contemporaries" during his experience in the "Literary Bohemia" in New York (38).

Greenslet notes, "The three young men of the group that with Aldrich surivived the century, Stedman, Stoddard, and Mr. Winter, writers all of poetry and prose, have become familiar names. It is perhaps something more than a coincidence that all four were New England Boys" (38-39).

Greenslet reprints a June 12, 1893, letter from Aldrich to Winter ("Will") from Ponkapog, Mass., that remarks upon Booth's death and funeral. Aldrich remarks that he quoted Hamlet ("Goodnight sweet prince") to himself as Booth was laid to rest. Aldrich tells Winter that at the funeral, "Then I thought of the years and years that had been made rich with his presence, and of the years that were to come, -- for us, not many, surely, -- and if there had not been a crowd of people, I would have buried my face in the greensward and wept, as men may not do and women may. And thus we left him" (174). Aldrich closes the letter to Winter by saying, "Some day, when I come to New York, we must get together in a corner at the Players, and talk about him -- his sorrows and his genius and his gentle soul" (175). (This letter is reprinted from Winter's The Life and Art of Edwin Booth.)

Aldrich discusses being quoted in Winter's book in a letter to Laurence Hutton dated Oct. 31, 1893, from Ponkaog (176).

ELECTRONIC SOURCE

An electronic version of this text is available at Google Books, a digital repository of texts provided by Google that is free and open to the public. It is funded through advertising revenue. Viewing the electronic version of this text will lead you to an external website. Please report dead links to digitlib@lehigh.edu.